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Nacerdine Talbi (left) and Beatrix Bernhardt (right) were accused of running an unregistered school

The first-ever convictions for operating an unregistered school in England have been imposed at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Nacerdine Talbi and Beatrix Bernhardt faced charges over the Al-Istiqamah Learning Centre, which taught about 58 pupils in a west London office block.

The defendants had argued that this was a study centre where home-educated children had part-time tuition.

But the court ruled that they were in effect running a full-time school.

The chief magistrate of England and Wales, Emma Arbuthnot, in the first verdict of its kind, said the evidence showed the centre was "being operated as an unregistered independent educational institution providing full-time education".

The defendants have been given a community order of a 12-week night time curfew and the court heard that the school would be likely to be closed temporarily.

The institution itself, of which Mr Talbi was the director, was fined £100.

Landmark case

This landmark case followed warnings over several years from the education watchdog Ofsted that there could be hundreds of such unregulated institutions.

There had been calls for action against such schools, with inspectors saying that they were avoiding scrutiny over the quality of lessons and teachers and the safety of pupils.